A bill has been introduced in the Senate that is nearly identical to legislation already introduced in the House of Representatives that would create a national structure for horse-racing regulation, according to a supporter of the bill.

The Coalition for Horse Racing Integrity, a group founded by The Jockey Club to lobby for the bill, said Wednesday that the bill was introduced by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.). The bill is a counterpart to a bill introduced earlier this year in the House by Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Andy Barr (R-Ky.).

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which conducts federal lobbying efforts on behalf of a broad spectrum of Thoroughbred racing constituencies, will now lobby in support of a federal bill that would ban the slaughter of horses in the United States.

The New York Gaming Commission on Monday issued its final approval for a set of regulations that will govern sports betting at four upstate casinos that were authorized in 2013, paving the way for sports betting in the state by later this year.

The television rating for the Belmont Stakes broadcast on NBC on Saturday was a 3.6, with a share of 9, according to the network, well down from last year’s rating for a successful Triple Crown bid by Justify but an improvement over the figure for the broadcast in 2017.

A four-hour hearing in the New York Senate on Wednesday featuring 20 witnesses laid bare competing, often diametrically opposed perceptions of the racing industry, at a time when the sport is being attacked by some critics and organizations over the health and safety of its horses.

When the Department of Labor announced in mid-May that the multiple Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown had reached a settlement requiring him to pay $1.6 million in back wages and fines for labor-law violations, many racing observers gasped at the enormity of the settlement and its seismic potential for repercussions on the backstretches of racetracks across the U.S.

A massive gambling expansion bill that could cast a lifeline to the state’s ailing racing industry sailed through the Illinois Senate on Sunday after easily passing the House of Representatives on Saturday evening.

The bill, SB690, now goes to governor J.B. Pritzker, who has signaled a willingness to sign it into law, though it could take weeks for Pritzker to act on the legislation.

CHICAGO – A bill that would expand legal gambling in Illinois and allow the state’s horse racing entities to operate casinos at their tracks passed the Illinois House of Representatives early Saturday evening. The bill will be taken up by the state Senate on Sunday and if it passes is expected to be signed into law by governor J.B. Pritzker, who generally has supported gambling expansion since his election to the office last year.

ARCADIA, Calif. – California Senator Dianne Feinstein and members of her staff held a conference call with California Horse Racing Board chairman Chuck Winner and executive director Rick Baedeker on Friday to discuss a variety of subjects related to horse safety issues that have affected the sport in California in recent months.

According to Winner, who declined to discuss specifics of the call, the conversation included topics such as federal oversight legislation for horse racing and measures being taken to curtail a series of equine fatalities at Santa Anita this year.

Parx Racing, the Philadelphia-area racetrack, has been accredited by an industry-funded health and safety organization for the first time, according to an announcement by the group.